Teaming to Learn: In Pursuit of Team Learning at a Venture Philanthropy

Abstract

As a national nonprofit venture philanthropy, NewSchools Venture Fund (NSVF) has invested $250 million in over 150 education entrepreneurs since its founding in 1998, in service of its mission to reimagine public education. This capstone examines the process to co-construct and implement a two-year learning agenda for NSVF’s largest investment area, Innovative Schools. The purpose of the learning agenda is to focus the team on a set of core questions that will not only improve the way NSVF supports its teams of entrepreneurs as risk-tolerant funders but also provide thought leadership to the education sector as it relates to innovative school models. I describe my role in developing the learning agenda and unpack the ways in which I was and was not able to leverage it as an impetus for team learning. While I initiated a wide-range of activities under the header of “learning,” true progress was not evident until my leadership approach shifted from a focus on effective teams to a focus on effective teaming. This capstone offers insights into why leaders must diagnose and assess the current conditions of the team and the environment first before engaging in leadership moves that then catalyze teams to “organize to learn.”